Soil working and site preparation is important for the establishment sand survival of cultivated crops. In the absence of adequate soil preparation crops may struggle because of poor physical soil condition, in particular soil compaction. Compacted soils are not easily penetrated by plant root which may struggle to assimilate the water and nutrients needed for growth and production. In turn this leads to a general undesirable loss of plant vigour, and less than optimal performance. The condition of the soil is therefore a limiting factor on the production capacity of the area.
In general, soil ripping is conducted to improve soil condition and create a friable soil that roots of plants are able to penetrate and establish. The roots of any plant need to be encouraged so that they anchor the seedling and grow deep to access water and nutrients. However, current equipment used is not site specific. By contrast, the present invention allows for variability in the type of soil amelioration during use of the tool by reference to soil type and by reference to a soil map database.
Mounding is conducted in conjunction with or following ripping. In effect a raised, friable soil bed is created. This technique improves the benefits of ripping by enhancing water retention, greater soil depth and uniformity of crop.
Single pass tillage implements are known and have been used to perform both shallow and deeper tillage in a single pass. Single pass equipment provides considerable time efficiencies compared with conducting separate operations in multiple passes.
However, in any one area in which cultivation is to be established the soil condition and soil characteristics may vary considerably. Time taken to complete a task is frequently critical in the establishment of a cultivated area and it is hard for a land manager to make more than a relatively crude assessment of the variability of an area of land and of the varying requirement that the soil may have for treatment. The difficulty of this task is exacerbated by the fact that equipment used to perform these vital tasks is of a specialized nature.
In most cases the capital cost of equipment is considerable. This is particularly the case when the equipment is used on only a seasonal basis, or perhaps only as a once off in initial establishment of a cultivated area. Furthermore, the skills required to operate and maintain such equipment are typically beyond the available resources of most landholders. Accordingly, land cultivation is frequently carried out on a contract basis.
The present invention is directed to a system of soil cultivation management, providing a land holder with enhanced information concerning the soils, structure and soil working requirement and soil working history. In addition to soil characteristics, the present invention can build on this information by the addition of crop yield information. Thus, any soil initial amelioration plan produced may be amended in subsequent seasons to thereby encourage continuous improvement in crop yield and uniformity.
In addition, the inventor of the present invention has realized that modern agricultural practices often require a number of tools to be used in land cultivation and management. The present invention is therefore also directed to a tractor mounted tool carrier used to carry out treatment and cultivation regimes used in the establishment of cultivated areas. More particularly the invention relates to a tool carrier adapted for use with a variety of soil working tools directed to a variety of purposes.